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My debut novel is finally published, and I'm so happy! I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped me along this journey, which was six-and-a-half years in the making. Of course, I've thanked them all in my acknowledgments at the back of the book, which I wrote a while back. But I also want to… Continue reading It takes a village

The learning curve never stops for this newbie author. Not least is the myriad ways in which I've had to expand my social media skills and vocabulary, in order to have the kind of online presence that's expected of authors today. And yes, I'm a Gen X-er, so I'm not exactly dialled into trends. I… Continue reading Becoming a social butterfly

Another ta-da! of good news today. I woke up to an exciting email from my publisher at Joffe Books, forwarding an email from their sub-agent who specializes in audiobook and foreign language rights (remember: the one who sold the audiobook rights to The Love of My Other Life?) Well, this agent, Lorella Belli, had been… Continue reading Getting my work in Czech

It's weird, sending your book-baby out into the world. It feels a bit like what parents must experience when sending their kids off to college for the first time, unsupervised, living independently, and in danger of falling in with the wrong crowd. Although, who am I kidding? I am happily child-free so I have no… Continue reading A life of its own

This week, my publisher sent me the final version of my debut novel's cover. And I love it! But it took me a minute to adjust to it. It's weird, but for some reason - despite The Love of My Other Life being a contemporary romance novel - I wasn't expecting that it would have… Continue reading Flipped expectations on cover art

Listen up, friends! As you know, I was already feeling extremely thankful to have a publishing deal that would see my novel brought to the world via Amazon paperback and e-book. And now I have even more good news! Those of you who read my last post will know that my publisher's sub-agent Lorella Belli… Continue reading An actual auction for audio rights

It's been another learning curve for this newb author over the past few weeks. This time, it's all about getting my head around my publisher's strategy to sell the foreign translation rights and audiobook rights for my upcoming debut The Love of My Other Life, which is done using an external literary agency. So, in addition… Continue reading A showing at the 2022 London Book Fair

Let me preface this with saying that a) I thoroughly enjoyed Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and b) this blog contains spoilers for the same. Read at your peril! I've been thinking a lot about what's okay to write, and what isn't. Specifically, whether it's okay to write about a character… Continue reading A point of view on what’s okay to write

Time for a new look! I found I was getting so bored with seeing the uber-blah word "Blog" on my website, I've created a fresh new brand specifically for my blog. Welcome to the Creative Juice Chronicles! Yes, it abbreviates to "CJC" and I'm sure you can "C" what I did there. I have created… Continue reading A juicy brand for my blog

They're the Oscar speech of the publishing world, the grand gesture of appreciation for all those who helped you along the writing journey. Every would-be author dreams of being in a position to write them. I'm speaking, of course, of the Acknowledgements. Finally, this week, I got to write my first set of author notes,… Continue reading Without whom, etc.